Licensure - P.L.S.8200

It's official.

BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS, P.L.S. 8200

Still no word...

Still no word from the Board.

I was told that the updates were to happen around 2:am this morning. I checked at 5:30 and their website was down for updates. At 6:am it was back up, with no updates; at least the information I was interested in had not been updated. I couldn't find my name, or any new name, in the system.

So now, I don't know what to think. I guess just sit & wait some more....

More Info

Here's another news trickle....

BORPELS Sacramento office has confirmed that my exams & applications were reviewed, accepted, and approved by the Board on Friday, the 17th.

With said approval comes licensure and a number, however, the number comes from a different office and the Sacramento office does not know what they are. The number should be posted online tonight (2:00am) and the official letters will be mailed out today or tomorrow.

To recap: As of 2:00pm today, I have a license and number, but I don't know what the number is. I should know in 12.5 hours. (If any on you would like an immediate phone call, let me know.)

Passed Yet?

As far as my tests go: in short, I passed, but I'm still not licensed. The long story goes like this...

Prior to taking the licensure exams, the exams for certification as a Land Surveyor in Training (LSIT) need to be completed. I passed the LSIT in 1999. LSIT certification means you can work as a surveyor (calculations, boundary resolution, legal research, etc.), but it must be done under the supervision of a licensed surveyor. (The only way around this step is Registration as a Civil Engineer. I had no intention of going THAT route.)

There are three portions to licensure - 1) A National exam (8 hour), 2) a State Exam (6 hour), and 3) a written/take-home exam on the State Business and Professions Code, Land Surveyors Act, and the State Map Act (this is basically an exercise in looking up State Law). (There is also a State requirement of a minimum of 6 years of survey experience prior to exam application that could be considered a fourth portion to the licensure.) I took the National & State exams in 2003. I passed the National, failed the State, as did most people. I should have turned in my take home portion then, but didn't. I re-took the State portion in 2004 and failed again. I took it again in April of this year and felt pretty good about it. I literally took the exam twice this year. I finished (most of) it within the six-hour time limit, and I re-calc'd a lot of it because it 'couldn't have been that easy'.

Now I had to wait.

The result letter were to be mailed out near the end of the 2nd week of September, with a 2nd mailing at the beginning of the 4th week. During the 1st week, I realized that I hadn't sent in the take-home portion of the exam. I called the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors in Sacramento to ask if they would still accept it or if I had to wait until next year. I was told to send it in.

The first set of mailing went out and I had friends who had both passed & failed, so I knew that letters with both notifications went out. I got nothing. I waited for the 2nd mailing, and still nothing. I called the board near the middle of the 4th week (the Board prohibits calls prior to the 2nd mailing) to see what was going on. I was told that they had prepared a letter, but that after they received my take-home exam, the content of the letter was 'effectively invalid', so they didn't send it. The lady I spoke to said she would send a copy so I would know that the Board hadn't forgotten about me. I told her that I knew she couldn't give out the results over the phone (also prohibited) but asked if she could read (or at least paraphrase) the letter to me. The letter said, in effect, 'Congrats, you passed, but we didn't get your take-home exam...' Because the board had received my exam, the letter was now invalid, which is why it wasn't mailed.

But the 'Congrats' was what I was interested in.

It meant my exams were done.

The Board members have to meet to approve the Licensure candidates and my take-home was received after the deadline to make it on the September agenda. The next meeting is November 16th & 17th. I called the Board a few weeks ago to verify that I had passed the take-home exam portion and was told that it was fine.

Now I wait again.

Unless something unforeseen happens, I'll be issued a license no later that the 17th of September. With it comes a four-digit number that will follow me forever. It can be checked on the Board's License Look-up page. Just search by last name. I'll be the only Nehring (and the only license in Kerman).

Now Employment & Licensure

I've changed jobs.

After working for TriCity Engineering for nearly six years, it's time to move on. This is something that has been a long time coming, I've just been dragging my feet actually doing it. I've been talking to Dixon & Associates Surveying for a few years off and on (I actually interviewed with them back in '99) but for one reason or another, it wasn't the right time to move. They approached me seriously again in January and made me an offer prior to our Texas trip. (I actually had the proposal & employee handbook with me while we were there.) After a few discussions with TriCity (good & bad), with Dixon & Associates (all good), and Lora, I knew it was time to move on. ... and here I am.

As far as the 'passing' The State Exam: I'm waiting on my results from the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (aka BORPELS, for obvious reasons). I took my final exam in April and the bulk of the results were released on September 8th. My results were not in that 'bulk' though. I've talked to a friend who passed, and a few other friends who didn't, and they all received their official notices on the 11th. The names of those who passed showed up on the official license list on the morning of the 12th. My name is not on the list, but I also did not receive a letter saying I failed either. What is keeping my hopes up is the fact that 118 people passed the exam (out of 507) but only 97 licenses have been issued. There are possibly still 21 license numbers up for grabs. There is to be a second mailing of official letters on the 25th; I'm hoping to hear something by then. I'll keep you posted.

For me, the licensing means that the last 18 years actually means something - it's taken a long time to get here. In this new office, I'll be one of two licenses in a shop of 12-14 surveyors. (As the new guy, I'll be the low man on the totem pole for a while, but as far as the State is concerned, I'll be #2, second only to the owner.)

If you're so inclined, you can check out the State test results here.

You can look for a particular license here. Just put in my name (just the last will do), or the city of Kerman. When I pass, it will be posted here.

If you really have nothing to do, or are just curious, this is the BORPELS page.

Also, I was elected to be the 2007 Treasurer for the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyors Association. By the way, I've been the Chapter webmaster for about three years now. You can check that out here.